Water vs. World

Posted on May 7, 2012 by My shared feed
[Image: Illustration by Jack Cook, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution; courtesy of the USGS].

In Charles Fishman's compelling exploration of water on Earth, The Big Thirst, there is the shocking statement that, despite the apparent inexhaustibility of the oceans, "the total water on the surface of Earth (the oceans, the ice caps, the atmospheric water) makes up 0.025 percent of the mass of the planet—25/10,000ths of the stuff of Earth. If the Earth were the size of a Honda Odyssey minivan," he clarifies, "the amount of water on the planet would be in a single, half-liter bottle of Poland Spring in one of the van's thirteen cup holders."

This is rather remarkably communicated by an illustration from the USGS, reproduced above, showing "the size of a sphere that would contain all of Earth's water in comparison to the size of the Earth." That's not a lot of water.

Only vaguely related, meanwhile, there is an additional description in Fishman's book worth repeating here.

[Image: The View full article >>

Comments Off

10226 Sopwith Camel biplane announced, plus 65-piece mini version [News]

Posted on May 7, 2012 by My shared feed

This past weekend, LEGO announced the new 10226 Sopwith Camel set at AFOLcon in Manchester, UK.

10226 Sopwith Camel (1)

Lots more photos in the photoset on Flickr.

In addition to the large-scale version, LEGO will also be releasing a mini version:

40049 Mini Sopwith Camel

Here’s the full press release:

10226 Sopwith Camel

Ages 14+. 883 pieces.
US $99.99 CA $129.99 DE 89.99 € UK 79.99 £ DK 799DKK

Relive a classic era of aviation history with the Sopwith Camel biplane!

Recreate your very own piece of aviation history with the historic Sopwith Camel. This detailed replica of one of the most recognizable British single-seat biplanes ever to have graced the skies. Features include a realistic rotating propeller and engine cylinders, hinged tail rudder, realistic tension wires, functioning wing ailerons and tail flaps that can be controlled from the cockpit – just like the real plane! The detail doesn’t stop there; this authentic model has over 880 bricks, including dark green, dark tan and metallic silver elements.

%

View full article >>

Comments Off

Adding New Surface Texture to Glass to Change Its Properties

Posted on May 7, 2012 by My shared feed

0mitglassetch.jpg

Glass has two key properties, one good, one bad. The good one is that it's transparent, so we don't have to drive around in cars using periscopes to see. The bad one is that it's reflective, which can cause glare and other problems. If you've ever driven around with a white envelope or piece of paper on top of your dashboard, you know how annoying the reflection is.

The reflectivity issue is a problem with solar panels, where a percentage of that precious sunlight they're trying to soak up is uselessly bounced away. In an effort to solve this, a team of MIT researchers have found a way to etch the surface of glass in such a way that it "virtually eliminates reflections, producing glass that is almost unrecognizable because of its absence of glare." A nice side benefit of this is that water and dust will also not stick to the glass.

What the researchers have done is etched a "nanotexture"—essentially a forest of cones—into the surface of the glass, and the scale of this forest is so tiny that water droplets and dust particles cannot get any purchase. They bounce right off of the surface, as you can see in the video below. It also solves the original goal of preventing glare, as the sharp angle of the cones simply obviates the angles of incidence that a ray of light would bounce off of on a perfectly flat surface.

(more...)

View full article >>

Comments Off

Feature: 1859′s "Great Auroral Storm"—the week the Sun touched the earth

Posted on May 4, 2012 by My shared feed

Noon approached on September 1, 1859, and British astronomer Richard Christopher Carrington was busy with his favorite pastime: tracking sunspots, those huge regions of the star darkened by shifts in its magnetic field. He projected the Sun's image from his viewing device onto a plate of glass stained a "pale straw colour," which gave him a picture of the fiery globe one inch shy of a foot in diameter.

The morning's work went as normal. Carrington patiently counted and charted spots, time-lining changes in their positions with a chronometer. Then he saw something unusual.

Read the rest of this article...

Read the comments

View full article >>

Comments Off

Dripping water turned into a standing wave. Amazing.

Posted on May 4, 2012 by My shared feed

View full article >>

Comments Off

Boston Rubbernecks

Posted on May 2, 2012 by My shared feed

Times have changed, but people have always loved to gawk at a car crash. The Boston Public Library has hundreds of opportunities to rubberneck wrecks from the 1930s. Some of the most interesting below. Please take note the painful lack of seat belts as displayed on the windshields. Also, check out the work wear on the bystanders. Be safe out there.

View full article >>

Comments Off

Green Cedar Bus

Posted on May 2, 2012 by My shared feed

by Josiah Williams

My wife, Christy, and I took a 1994 Blue Bird school bus and turned it into a home for us and our little boy.

We spent the summer of 2011 doing most of the conversion. I worked days as a carpenter and put in long nights and weekends on the bus and was rewarded with a comfortable, warm, and unique space for our family, free from rent and mortgage.

We spent the winter months traveling from Georgia to Washington state, spending most of the time around the south-west.

Green Cedar Bus

Along our journey we found out that we were pregnant with our second child so, though our time in our new home has been short, we are now in the prossess of selling the bus in order to fund a move to Alaska. We hope to get enough money from the sale to be able to start a life there and begin plans for another small, simple yet beautiful and unique home, this time though on a soil foundation!

More pictures and information at my website… http://deorwoodworking.wordpress.com/green-cedar-pictures/

Contact Josiah via this email: Nemo8484 (at) gmail.com he did not give me a price…

Green Cedar Bus interior

Popout

PopoutThis guy wants to play every Sci-Fi character ever scripted; check out his home-grown audition tape to see if he’s up to snuff.

Jacob Fleisher has a perchant for Sci-Fi flavored dramatic acting, from his notes on the video:

My audition for every character from every science fiction TV show or Movie that has ever been made, or ever will be made. I am available to star in any upcoming science fiction blockbusters.

After reviewing the tape we can say with confidence: we’d hire him.

[via Geeks Are Sexy]

HTG Explains: Do You Really Need Expensive Cables?
Comments Off

Dog learns about skunks

Posted on May 1, 2012 by My shared feed

Popout
[Video Link] The YouTube comments are interesting: "Japanese TV station would like to use your video. Please contact.." "Swedish Webb TV-channel would like to use your video." "Please contact me asap. We would like to licence your clip." (Via Arbroath)



View full article >>

Comments Off

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season One Blu-ray beams down July 24th

Posted on April 30, 2012 by My shared feed

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season One Blu-ray beams down July 24th

After a teaser release of three episodes earlier this, CBS Home Entertainment has set a date for the complete first season Star Trek: The Next Generation to arrive on Blu-ray, just in time for its 25th anniversary this year. June 24th the six-disc set hits shelves featuring all of the first season episodes remastered in high definition complete with recomposited special effects and 7.1 DTS-HD surround soundtracks, as well as a slew of special features including new behind the scenes interviews and featurettes on the HD upgrade process. Check after the break for the press release with a list of episodes and features, plus a video preview of what the new effects look like from The Next Level teaser in January. Check Entertainment Weekly for another preview of the upgraded footage, while TheHDRoom has a few still captures from the Blu-ray versions.

Continue reading Star Trek: The Next Generation Season One Blu-ray beams down July 24th

Star Trek: The Next%

View full article >>

Comments Off